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moe. Plays Stealth Show at Brooklyn Bowl

The members of moe. suit up at Brooklyn Bowl. Photo by Amy Jacques

moe. made its first appearance at Brooklyn, NY’s Brooklyn Bowl last night. The group announced the intimate gig 26 hours before showtime and drew several hundred fans throughout the night. Despite having played New York for over 15 years, the show was also moe.‘s first appearance in the borough of Brooklyn. Club founder—and Relix/Jambands.com publisher—Pete Shapiro introduced the band from the stage and joked about the differences between Brooklyn Bowl and his previous music venue, Wetlands (“you can see the stage” and “we have 16 bowling lanes here,” he quipped). Shapiro also revealed that he intentionally booked a number of Wetlands alumni like Bob Weir, Warren Haynes, Robert Randolph, Soulive, the Disco Biscuits, Joe Russo and moe. to help break in the new room.

Like the band’s previous show at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, the members of moe. wore suits throughout the night to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary. The quintet also nodded to its surroundings by covering Camper Van Beethoven’s “Take The Skinheads Bowling” for the first time since March 2, 2005 (the musicians also performed in their bowling shoes during the show). The evening’s encore consisted of two rare songs: the third take on percussionist Jim Loughlin’s “Farmer Ben” since 2005 and Rob Derhak’s “Awsome Gary,” a song the band revived last year after a decade absence.